lowering params

dub3

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Hey guys,

I currently have an Alk of 14, Calcium of 500, and Mag of 1600. I need to lower these levels since aome of coral are not very pleased.

My salinty is at .025, nitrates 0, nitries 0, ph 8.0, ammonia is 0

Tank- 60g rimless with a wet/dry sump running bioballs and a protein skimmer.

I do not dose my tank with anything, and I feed mysis in lower quantities daily.

I keep a mixed reef, but mostly softies and lps.(shrooms, zoas, acans, leathers)

Fish- 2 false percs, yellow tang, 6 line wrasse, and a pj cardinal.

Lighting- 2 bulb t-5 and led's just running the blues.

I do 15-20 gallon water changes weekly, I get the salt water directly from my lfs. I have tried using water from other stores to see if that was the cause, no change.

Let me know if you need more info or have any suggestions. Thanks again.
 

ChrisQ0904

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Have you tested the water from the fish store? What are you using for your top off water?

What test kits are you using and how old are they?
 

Reefing Madness

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You can do several water changes using Instant Ocean, this will lower those numbers, as IO mixes out low on all the elements. Or you can use Muriatic Acid to lower the ALK, and let the CA and MAG come down on their own in time.
 

beaslbob

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or you can basically do nothing and let them all come down on thier own. then start doing the diy two part.

BTW was the 1.025 SG?

All of these things are also a function of specific gravity.
 
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dub3

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Thanks for the quick responses. Yes the sg is 1.025.
I use ro/di for top off, and unfortunately I did not test the water from the store. I use api saltwater test kit and red sea reef foundation. All <6months old. Tank has been up for 18 months
 

ChrisQ0904

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Thanks for the quick responses. Yes the sg is 1.025.
I use ro/di for top off, and unfortunately I did not test the water from the store. I use api saltwater test kit and red sea reef foundation. All <6months old. Tank has been up for 18 months

I'm assuming you followed the directions and have done multiple tests?

If so, I would do as suggested above and mix your own water with IO. All you need is a big enough container a power head and salt.
 
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dub3

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Refractometer. And yes, multiple tests done correctly. I used to mix my own water, but being 5 min from my lfs it just seemed easier to buy it and do the change. Thanks for the input guys.
 
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dub3

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So I spoke with my lfs where I get all of my water and they use IO reef crystals. I thought that salt used low levels of trace elements. As one would assume, their display tanks are amazing, so why the high levels in my tank? As stated before I do not dose and the only equipment I run besides pumps is a skimmer.
 

Reefing Madness

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Reef Crystals is a Reef salt mix, which means it runs elements on the high side.
 
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dub3

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true, but I thought compared to the other brands out there, it was on the lower side. Suppose thats still the cause of my issue anyways.
 

Eric B

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If it was my tank I would stop doing weekly water changes for a few weeks to let levels drop on there own. You don't have high nitrates and you didn't show what your phosphate's are but if they are low also I would just let it be. Once your levels drop on there own then I would start water changes again. Also I would lower the amount you are changing or maybe even do it by-weekly instead of weekly unless your nitrates & phosphate's start climbing faster.
 

tonymission

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Doesn't explain the high numbers but I would maybe try to do 10% instead of 3 times that in your weekly water changes. That's a lot of potential variance with each WC.
 

Reefing Madness

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It does explain the high numbers, if his system isn't using all the elements and he's adding more to the tank, via Reef Crystals, they will continue to get higher.
 

tonymission

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It does explain the high numbers, if his system isn't using all the elements and he's adding more to the tank, via Reef Crystals, they will continue to get higher.

Well doesn't he take water out before putting water in? Obviously somewhat diminished element values in that water but I'm not sure your logic works here.
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

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FWIW, I wouldn't try to correct this with a water change unless you determined the new water was actually lower.

It might just as easily be testing errors (they are WAY more common than most people believe) than actual high values, and IO is pretty high in alkalinity so it is not likely to change the alkalinity very much.

The alkalinity is the only one that concerns me. The calcium is fine. Magnesium is high, but I doubt it is real, personally, unless the LFS adds it intentionally.
 
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dub3

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next time i get water, I will test it before I add it. I just did the smart thing and ordered a Spectrapure ro/di, so hopefully I can fix my own problem. BTW, welcome Randy, and thanks for the input.
 

raceandoval

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I had a similar problem with my tank 3 months in. I switched from Instant Ocean to Reef Crystals because my goals were to go from FOWLR to Mixed Reef. Added some Xenia and a Blastomussa pre Reef Crystals. All looked great so I switched over to Reef Crystals thinking the higher level of elements will make it easier to keep Cal and Mag at appropriate levels. As you can see by my charting, I stabilized my perameters in June gaining enough confidence to switch salt mix then it went haywire on me in July to mid August. Not to mention my SG went crazy from 1.023-1.029! Yikes! Talk about unstable. I was focused only on keeping my salinity stable and not worrying about Cal and Mag. I was doing weekly, and sometimes bi-weekly water changes up to 20% and topping off with the RC mix. I got impatient and went overboard. Needless to say my Blast blanched and my Xenia melted down plus a Snowflake went MIA! Who friggin kills Xenia or Snowflakes?! This guy. I reduced my water changes to 5%-10% and now do that amount bi-weekly. AND I top off with clean RO/DI with no salt mix. My perameters have stabilized and my ADD perameter checks are over. Oh! And my Alk went from 11.8 to 9.5....
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Randy Holmes-Farley

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I was focused only on keeping my salinity stable and not worrying about Cal and Mag. I was doing weekly, and sometimes bi-weekly water changes up to 20% and topping off with the RC mix. I got impatient and went overboard. Needless to say my Blast blanched and my Xenia melted down plus a Snowflake went MIA! Who friggin kills Xenia or Snowflakes?! This guy. I reduced my water changes to 5%-10% and now do that amount bi-weekly. AND I top off with clean RO/DI with no salt mix. My perameters have stabilized and my ADD perameter checks are over. Oh! And my Alk went from 11.8 to 9.5...

So things seem to be OK now?

In the future, there are often better ways to fix calcium, alkalinity and magnesium issues than water changes. :)
 
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